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Monday, March 26, 2007

I realized this evening that I had failded to document a couple of figures that I have resently painted. I had entertained thought of playing in the Arizona Champions of Chaos tournament that was held in every hobby store in the state. In order to play the list I have created I needed to finish a couple of figures.

First up is the third Daemonhost for this army. GW only makes two different Daemonhosts but you are allowed three in the army. This means that you must get creative for the third one.

Can you hard-core GW gamers out there recognize this? This is not actually a figure but is instead a vehicle bit.

Because this is a bit and not a figure the back was never meant to be seen, so I had to add some more bits to finish it off.

Next up is the Sage. This is and old WHFB Empire figure that I have kept for just this purpose. Trouble is, I have never used the Sage so I never got around to painting it.

I had to put in a little detail on the drawing pad...it just looked strange blank!

The painting on these two firgure is really not up to my current standards and that was intentional. You see, my Daemonhunters army is a couple of years old and the painting style of that army is not the style I am doing today. This meant that I needed to copy my own, older style. This is not an easy thing to do. Here are some comparison shots so you can judge for yourself how well I did.

I think I matched the style of the Daemonhosts pretty well.

The Sage is OK. It is hard to tell from this picture but I think he is to pale. He will work, I just need to keep him in the back.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

This is a very quick battle report of a WWII game played by a couple of friends of mine. The game was played about two weeks ago and the rules are an experimental set I am working on. I cannot remember all the details but I will do the best I can.

On a beautiful summer day a bunch of German tanks with a handful of infantry decided to attack a small British force that was holding a nearby church. This was a very unimportant church in an unimportant sector. The German commander clearly thought this would be a quick an easy way to gain some glory and break-in his green troops.

The British commander, Maj. Jordan, was in command of a small force of infantry and a single tank. The infantry force consisted of about a platoon of men. They were equipped with several Piat AT launchers, a heavy machine gun, a medium mortar and several light mortars. The Major also had under his command a single 17 lbr gun with a very green crew. He had very little confidence on this crew and his feels would be proved right in the coming hours. The British tank was a Cromwell that had been separated due to mechanical trouble from its unit. The crew had completed their repairs and were just about to leave when the Germans launched their attack.

Hauptmann Kulinski was a young officer who was eager to prove his worth, despite his suspect family and background. He spotted his opportunity and wasted no time in assembling a force to attack the week British forces facing him. He gathered together a company of Panzer IV H (numbering 6 vehicles) and a single Wirblewind AA tank. He had a single platoon of very unmotivated infantry and a motorcycle recon force.

Hauptmann Kulinski decided on a two pronged attack against the village. This would split is tank force to the North and South. The British defenders would have to cope with two separate tank columns and would have difficulty concentrating their limited AT resources (or so the Hauptmann hoped).Maj. Jordan deployed the majority of his forces in the West end of the village, leaving the massive Norman church unoccupied and undefended. Two of the three squads of infantry took up positions West of the main road near the ruins of an Inn. These troops were well dug in. Just outside the village to the West the Major setup his HQ, located in a small wooded area. Between these woods and the village the crew of the Cromwell heavily camouflaged their tank and awaited the assault. South of Maj. Jordan's HQ was a small hill that had a good view of the South end of the village and a clear line of fire down the main road to the other end of town. Here he place the AT gun and his last squad of infantry. Behind the HQ, further West, the Major deployed his medium mortar - his only artillery support.

As the attack opened the Germans had extreme difficulty in locating the British defensive positions. This force Hauptmann Kulinski to send in his recon units. These were immediately met with surprisingly accurate mortar fire, which caused a huge amount of confusion among the motorcycle troops. The Germans pressed on even though there were nearly blind.

To the North of the village the Germans had open ground that would allow them to encircle the British in the village and cutoff their line of retreat, but the tanks would have to move fast. As the tanks approached to the North they ran into a squad of British Paratroopers who had been attempting to make contact with the nearby British forces. The Paratroopers waisted no time in launching an attack against the advancing German tanks. Their Piat attacks failed to damage the tanks as well as a direct assault. After the loss of several men the Paras moved into the woods and engaged in a vicious hand-to-hand struggle with supporting German infantry.

The loss of the Paras would seem to have been a waste, but this was not the case. The vigor of their attack convinced the German commander that a cautious advance was the correct course of action and this was to play directly into the hands of the defenders. Throughout the rest of the day the Panzers to the North of the village would become separated from the supporting infantry, who were quickly becoming bogged down in the woods and the church grounds. The German infantry would suffer mightily from the British heavy machine gun. The British resistance in the North would also claim the Wirblewind.

The Panzer IV's were now in trouble. Even though the British gunners on the 17 lbr gun were unable to score any meaningful hits, the tanks would pay a heavy price in trying to bypass the village. As the tanks past heroic British infantry swept over the walls and assaulted the tanks directly. The German commander had foolishly moved slowly in an attempt to slaughter the British. The first German tank losses of the day had happened at the hands of infantry armed with grenades!

This loss inspired the Germans tanks to speed up their advance in the hopes of escaping the assaulting infantry. This worked but the German now found themselves in the sights of the 17 lbr that was bound to score a kill. The attack on the North had been blunted with only a single tank making past the village.

To the South the second tank platoon found the going even tougher. The terrain to the South forced the tanks into a narrow gap between the church and a small wood. The problem was that this gap was occupied by a cemetery that slowed the tanks to a crawl. Much as was the case to the North, the tanks found themselves unsupported by the infantry. In this case, however it was the narrowness of the avenue of attack that prevented the infantry from being able to properly support the tanks. The could see the trouble the tanks had put themselves in and there were not going to let them escape. A single squad of British infantry crossed the main road and took up positions behind the cemetery wall. From here they would launch a devastating assault on the tanks that would know out two of them.

This would mark the end of the Germans ability to continue the attack. They had lost 5 of 7 armored vehicles as well as the motorcycle scout unit. The remaining infantry and tanks would not be able to continue the attack. The British ad fared slightly better. They lost the Cromwell and the 17 lbr, They also lost the entire Para squad.

So much for quick! This game was a lot of fun. This was play test 10 or 12 of my home-brew rules. I am still working out the vehicle combat and this game was mostly to test the ideas. Now I just need to get writing and get this stuff on paper!

Monday, March 19, 2007

I got some feedback that my one picture of the Mordor Orcs was not very good. So I have gone back to take a few close-ups. I hesitate to do this as these figures have been speed painted and dipped and do not show a high level of painting skill. But here they are, please be gentile.

This first figure is one of the original metal orcs and are getting tough to find. I think the old metals are the best of the bunch.

Next up is one of the plastic orcs. The figures are very lite on the detail. In fact, the detail tends to blend together so much it is hard to tell what is what.

This is also one of the plastic orcs. As you can see, the paint is just kind of slopped on with no real attention to detail. They look good on the table and this all that matters.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Wow! It has been a good day. I managed to get another pulp figure from Copplestone painted today.

This guy is pretty interesting. He has the Montana hat, cavalry pants and riding boots that all point to a military background. The black vest, white skirt and red tie, combined with the six-shooter point to a Western connection.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

This is the first painting project I have completed in several weeks. I found this to be one of the toughest figures to paint even with detailed painting instructions from GW. The blending of flesh tones to grey-black tones was very hard to get right. I am pleased with the results but I am sure I can do better.

I figure I will need a couple more trolls for all the different Lord of the Rings stuff I plan to do. I'll get it right next time.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

With the release of the new Dark Angels Codex for Warhammer 40K I thought it was about time I posted some inspiration. These pictures are of my Deathwing army that I painted last summer. I posted some (or maybe all) of these pictures on the Adeptus Arizona forum but I never got around to putting them on my main web-site.

First up is the Headquaters unit.

Next up are the Deathwing Dreadnoughts.

This army has two troop units (which are no longer legal under the new codex).

All of the terminators have the Deathwing symbol on the right shoulder pad. These are from some very old transfer sheets.

Here is a close-up of one of the Sergents.

For Heavy Support we have the Landraider Crusader.

This army is a lot of fun to play but it was very tough to win with the old codex. Hopefully the new rules will allow for more flexibilty in the army creation which should translate to greater success on the battlefield.

Then there are the games that have been retired. Not all of these are bad. In fact some are really great. The reasons for retirement are varied.

Wings of Glory

Kings of War

The Great WarEmpire of the DeadClash of EmpiresLord of the Rings:SBGWarhammer Ancient BattlesBattleground World War 2Arc of FireJohnny Reb IIICrossfireRules of EngagementRate of FireLegends of the High SeasNecromundaWaterlooLegends of the Old West